Mass Evacuations in Florida as Hurricane Irma Closes In

Hurricane Irma is forecast to make landfall in Florida early Sunday morning as a monster Category 4 storm, threatening to cause billions of dollars in damage as it hammers Miami, Palm Beach, and several other major cities along the coast and makes its way northward. Over the last several days, Irma has already killed at least 20 people and devastated several Caribbean islands, flattening airports and hotels, and destroying 90 percent of the island nation of Barbuda. With Texas just beginning to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, government officials are taking no chances, ordering mandatory evacuation for some two dozen counties and cities in the storm’s path.

“If you’re in an evacuation zone, you’ve got to get out, you can’t wait,” Florida Governor Rick Scottbegged Floridians on Friday morning. “This thing’s coming. It looks like it’s going to go right through the middle of our state.” Senator Marco Rubiosent out special warnings to specific regions in Florida, reminding Tampa residents to check their surge protectors and letting residents know exactly how many hours they had left to board up their windows. President Donald Trump tweeted increasingly urgent warnings to his millions of followers, compiling a Twitter Moments list with a stack of relevant tweets from government officials and agencies. “I encourage EVERYONE in the path of #HurricaneIrma to heed the advice and orders of local & state officials!” he wrote.

CNN reports that highways and airports were backed up for hours as thousands of people tried to leave affected areas:

In Florida, mandatory evacuations orders included parts of Miami-Dade County, Broward County east of US 1, Palm Beach County, low-lying parts of Brevard County, and Monroe County, home to the Florida Keys. More than 30,000 people evacuated Monroe County alone, Scott said. Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi stressed to residents in the Keys they need to heed the evacuation order and leave.

All hospitals would be closed and ambulances gone as of Friday morning, including air ambulances, he said. "You might as well leave now, while you have a chance, because when you dial 911 -- you will not get an answer," he said.

While Irma has weakened to a Category 4 hurricane, with top wind speeds of 155 mph, forecasters fear it could increase in strength just before passing over the Florida Keys, bringing a storm surge of 5-10 feet. One of the hardest-hit areas could be Miami, where financial analysts estimate the cost from the damage could reach $200 billion. “There’s no structure in Miami that’s built to withstand 185 mph winds,” Keith Wolfe, president of U.S. property and casualty for reinsurance firm Swiss Re, told The Miami Herald, while Rob Moore of the National Resources Defense Council warned that the recent explosion of Florida real-estate development did not consider flooding. “Everyone has known the possibility of an Irma existed. But I fear Florida has allowed development to occur without taking that possibility into account,” he said.